Nakom is the first ever feature film in the Kusaal language and the first Ghanaian narrative film to have screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. Following the world premiere in Berlin, the film made its U.S. debut at the New Directors/New Films festival in New York. Last month, Nakom was nominated for the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for films budgeted less than $500,000. On the eve of their Berlin premiere, co-directors Kelly Daniela Norris and T.W. (Trav) Pittman said they were most excited to screen in Nakom, the rural village in northern Ghana where they lived for four […]...
- 12/7/2016
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
For the 18th consecutive year, Filmmaker Magazine has announced its 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Perhaps the indie-film stalwart’s signature feature, 25 New Faces has included the likes of Hilary Swank (1999), Ryan Gosling (2001), Andrew Bujalski (2003), So Yong Kim (2006), Benh Zeitlin (2008) and Ana Lily Amirpour (2014) in the past, among many others. Leading the class of 2016 are Sasha Lane of “American Honey” and Macon Blair of “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room,” who’s currently at work on his untitled directorial debut. Find the full list below.
Read More: Filmmaker Magazine Names 2015’s ’25 New Faces of Independent Film’
Sasha Lane
Tom Rosenberg
Ricardo Gaona
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang
Amman Abbasi
T.W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris
Jess dela Merced
Jerónimo Rodríguez
Graham Swon
Katy Grannan
Sonia Kennebeck
Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan
Memory
Connor Jessup
Shawn Peters
Nadia P. Manzoor and Radhika Vaz
Shawn Snyder
John Wilson...
Read More: Filmmaker Magazine Names 2015’s ’25 New Faces of Independent Film’
Sasha Lane
Tom Rosenberg
Ricardo Gaona
Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan
Livia Ungur and Sherng-Lee Huang
Amman Abbasi
T.W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris
Jess dela Merced
Jerónimo Rodríguez
Graham Swon
Katy Grannan
Sonia Kennebeck
Damon Davis and Sabaah Folayan
Memory
Connor Jessup
Shawn Peters
Nadia P. Manzoor and Radhika Vaz
Shawn Snyder
John Wilson...
- 7/27/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Nakom is the first movie produced in Ghana’s Kusaal language, made by directorial duo T.W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris after the former’s Peace Corps stint in the village of Nakom. Filmed in Nakom and starring non-actor villagers, the film follows Iddrisu (Jacob Ayanaba) as his father’s death forces him away from the modernized world of a med student and back to his farming village home.
Thanks to the non-actor cast and no-nonsense direction, it’s easy to be swept up in what seems like a mixture of documentary and narrative. This is how people live in the remote Ghanan villages. The subject carries such a wealth of inherent style that the camera barely has to do anything. A casually beautiful film, it takes your breath unexpectedly with great swatches of bright green crops or the midnight tracking of a moonlit bicycle ride.
By letting social tradition unfold before us,...
Thanks to the non-actor cast and no-nonsense direction, it’s easy to be swept up in what seems like a mixture of documentary and narrative. This is how people live in the remote Ghanan villages. The subject carries such a wealth of inherent style that the camera barely has to do anything. A casually beautiful film, it takes your breath unexpectedly with great swatches of bright green crops or the midnight tracking of a moonlit bicycle ride.
By letting social tradition unfold before us,...
- 3/21/2016
- by Jacob Oller
- The Film Stage
There aren’t enough films in this world like Nakom.
Billed as the “first feature film made in the Kusaal language,” Nakom is at once a perfect entry point into the world of African cinema and yet also something far more universal in its thematic reach. Set in the titular African farming village, Nakom first introduces us to Iddrisu as he runs to class in a much more modern city in Ghana. However, things quickly shift to the rural locale he was raised in when he discovers that his father has died, leaving him as ostensibly the leader of the very household he left, to face the traditionalism that still runs throughout the rural cultures within Africa.
Directed by T. W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris, the film is playing as part of the New Directors New Film series at the Film Society Of Lincoln Center, and is a real...
Billed as the “first feature film made in the Kusaal language,” Nakom is at once a perfect entry point into the world of African cinema and yet also something far more universal in its thematic reach. Set in the titular African farming village, Nakom first introduces us to Iddrisu as he runs to class in a much more modern city in Ghana. However, things quickly shift to the rural locale he was raised in when he discovers that his father has died, leaving him as ostensibly the leader of the very household he left, to face the traditionalism that still runs throughout the rural cultures within Africa.
Directed by T. W. Pittman and Kelly Daniela Norris, the film is playing as part of the New Directors New Film series at the Film Society Of Lincoln Center, and is a real...
- 3/19/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Exclusive: New agreement covers Us, UK and Mexico.
The Eye On Films (EoF) network has signed a new library deal that will see its films made available to users of streaming platform Mubi in the UK, Us and Mexico.
EoF is a support support platform for the distribution of first and second feature films, launched by Wide in 2011 with the support of the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme.
The network now has more than 120 international partners including 52 festivals and 50 distributors in more than 40 countries with a catalogue of more than 70 films.
New EoF titles in the Berlinale selection includes Stephan Richter’s One Of Us; Those Who Jump by Moritz Siebert, Estephan Wagner and Abou Bakar Sidibe; Who is Oda by Kamilla Pfeffer;You’ll Never Blone by Alex Anwandter; and Nakom by Kelly Daniela Norris and Tw Pittman.
A new festival that has been added to that list is Split Film Festival, which runs for...
The Eye On Films (EoF) network has signed a new library deal that will see its films made available to users of streaming platform Mubi in the UK, Us and Mexico.
EoF is a support support platform for the distribution of first and second feature films, launched by Wide in 2011 with the support of the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme.
The network now has more than 120 international partners including 52 festivals and 50 distributors in more than 40 countries with a catalogue of more than 70 films.
New EoF titles in the Berlinale selection includes Stephan Richter’s One Of Us; Those Who Jump by Moritz Siebert, Estephan Wagner and Abou Bakar Sidibe; Who is Oda by Kamilla Pfeffer;You’ll Never Blone by Alex Anwandter; and Nakom by Kelly Daniela Norris and Tw Pittman.
A new festival that has been added to that list is Split Film Festival, which runs for...
- 2/18/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Read: 2016 Berlinale Completes Competition Program With Spike Lee's 'Chi-Raq' and More As the first-ever Ghanaian film to be accepted into the Berlin International Film Festival, Kelly Daniela Norris and Tw Pittman's "Nakom" surely has to be feeling the pressure. The film tells the story of Iddrisu, a talented up-and-coming medical student who is forced to come back to his native village of Nakom in northern Ghana after the sudden death of his father. Learning of the insurmountable debt that the family has accumulated since his time away at university, young Iddrisu must make a drastic choice between what his future will hold. Will he take on the burden of patriarchy and stay with his family or return back to the life that he has made for himself in the city? The film is slated to have its world premiere at the Berlinale on February 15. Watch the exclusive trailer above.
- 2/9/2016
- by Riyad Mammadyarov
- Indiewire
Films include Shepherds and Butchers with Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer who faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself, in a case...
- 1/21/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Films include Shepherds and Butchers, starring Steve Coogan; Don’t Call Me Son from Anna Muylaert; and a documentary about a director and actress who were kidnapped by Kim Jong-il and forced to make films.
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...
The Berlinale (Feb 11-21) has completed the selection for this year’s Panorama strand, comprising 51 films from 33 countries. A total of 34 fiction features comprise the main programme and Panorama Special while a further 17 titles will screen in Panorama Dokumente.
A total of 33 films are world premieres, nine are international premieres and nine European premieres. The 30th Teddy Award is also being celebrated with an anniversary series of 17 films.
Notable titles include Shepherds and Butchers from South Africa, which is set toward the end of Apartheid and stars Steve Coogan as a hotshot lawyer faces his biggest test when he agrees to defend a white prison guard who has killed seven black men. What ensues is a charge against the death penalty itself...
- 1/21/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
As if new films from the Coens and Jeff Nichols weren’t enough, the 2016 Berlin Film Festival has further expanded their line-up, adding some of our most-anticipated films of the year. Mia Hansen-Løve, following up her incredible, sadly overlooked drama Eden, will premiere the Isabelle Huppert-led Things to Come, while Thomas Vinterberg, Lav Diaz, André Téchiné, and many more will stop by with their new features. Check out the new additions below, followed by some previously announced films, notably John Michael McDonagh‘s War on Everyone.
Competition
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)
Portugal
By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)
With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova
World premiere
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)
Iran
By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)
With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol
International premiere
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary
Italy / France
By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...
Competition
Cartas da guerra (Letters from War)
Portugal
By Ivo M. Ferreira (Na Escama do Dragão)
With Miguel Nunes, Margarida Vila-Nova
World premiere
Ejhdeha Vared Mishavad! (A Dragon Arrives!)
Iran
By Mani Haghighi (Modest Reception, Men at Work)
With Amir Jadidi, Homayoun Ghanizadeh, Ehsan Goudarzi, Kiana Tajammol
International premiere
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea) – documentary
Italy / France
By Gianfranco Rosi (Sacro Gra, El Sicario...
- 1/11/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
GeniusThe films included in the lineup for the 2016 Berlin International Film Festival, taking place between February 11 - 21, are starting to be announced.Opening FILMHail, Caesar! (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, USA)COMPETITIONBoris without Béatrice (Denis Côté, Canada)Genius (Michael Grandage, UK/USA)Alone in Berlin (Vincent Perez, Germany/France/UK)Midnight Special (Jeff Nichols, USA)Zero Days (Alex Gibney, USA)Berlinale SPECIALThe Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (Morgan Neville, USA)The Seasons in Quincy: Four Portraits of John Berger (Colin MacCabe, Christopher Roth, bartek Dziadosz, Tilda Swinton, UK)Where to Invade Next (Michael Moore, USA)PANORAMAJá, Olga Hepnarová (Tomáš Weinreb, Petr Kazda, Czech Republic/Poland/Slowak Republic/France)Junction 48 (Udi Aloni, Israel/Germany/USA)Les Premiers, les Derniers (Bouli Lanners, France/Belgium)Maggie's Plan (Rebecca Miller, USA)Nakom (Kelly Daniela Norris, Tw Pittman, Ghana/USA)Remainder (Omer Fast, United Kingdom/Germany)S one strane (Zrinko Ogresta,...
- 12/17/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Other titles include Rebecca Miller’s Maggie’s Plan, starring Greta Gerwig, and David Farr’s The Ones Below, starring David Morrissey.Scroll down for full lists
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has announced the first titles in Panorama – its strand that comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles.
The initial features include three from the UK, with John Michael McDonagh returning to Berlin for the world premiere of War On Everyone.
The film, a satire centred on two corrupt cops in New Mexico, stars Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, Theo James and Tessa Thompson.
McDonagh was previously in Panorama in 2011 with The Guard and 2013 with Calvary.
Also from the UK is David Farr’s The Ones Below, which revolves around a couple expecting their first child who discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below. Receiving its European...
The Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 11-21) has announced the first titles in Panorama – its strand that comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles.
The initial features include three from the UK, with John Michael McDonagh returning to Berlin for the world premiere of War On Everyone.
The film, a satire centred on two corrupt cops in New Mexico, stars Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, Theo James and Tessa Thompson.
McDonagh was previously in Panorama in 2011 with The Guard and 2013 with Calvary.
Also from the UK is David Farr’s The Ones Below, which revolves around a couple expecting their first child who discover an unnerving difference between themselves and the couple living in the flat below. Receiving its European...
- 12/17/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
The Austin Film Society, founded in 1985 by Texas native Richard Linklater (“Boyhood,” “School of Rock”), has announced the winners of this year’s Afs grants. Awarding over $100,000 in cash and $30,000 in goods and services to artists working across the Lone Star State, the grants have rewarded a total of $1.5 million to Texan filmmakers in the past two decades. Among the winners are feature-length narrative filmmakers Kelly Daniela Norris and T. W. Pittman’s for “Nakom,” Daniel Levin for “Bagatelle,” Daniel Laabs for “Jules of Light and Dark,” and Paul Gordon for “Wolves,” which was also given the new Powered by Dell Technology Grant which includes state-of-the-art equipment from Dell. For more information on membership, other opportunities for Texas-based filmmakers, and tickets to Afs’s frequent screenings, visit austinfilm.org. Inspired by this post? Check out our Texas audition listings!
- 9/11/2015
- backstage.com
I have just returned from Wroclaw, Poland where U.S. in Progress, the American Film Festival's works-in-progress event just wrapped. Held October 22-25, 2014, during the 5th American Film Festival (October 21-26), this was the best selection of filmmakers and films I have seen here to date, and I have been attending this event and its sister event in Paris every year since its inception (except for last October which I missed).
Earnest, attentive and professionally engaged, seeking answers about the best ways to complete the films in order to appeal strategically to festivals and international sales agents, the filmmakers discussed how best to further the success of their present and future films as well as their careers as international filmmakers. These six teams of filmmakers undoubtedly benefited enormously from the Polish and European film professionals who shared their knowledge as everyone watched the six chosen films, networking, sharing meals and drinking and who knows what till all hours in three fully packed days and nights.
Debuting filmmakers from the United States. in the only event of its kind in Europe (except for its sister event held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris) were invited (all expenses paid) to this great European city where the only multiplex for arthouse cinema of its kind is flourishing.
Roman Gutek, founder of this festival and the larger summertime Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, owner of Gutek Distribution, an entrepreneur who loves creating new events and projects, took over the giant theater in the middle of this middle-European, formerly Prussian city a few years ago and has introduced more than cinema to a well-educated (top univerisity here is one of the oldest in Europe) young populace. Other successful events include opera, ballet and monthly film events for 35,000 school children. He is now preparing the cinema component for the upcoming celebration of Wroclaw as the European Capital of Culture 2016.
One of his sons is working with the American Film Festival with its artistic director Ula Śniegowska. The other son is a chef and quite active in the gastronomic success of the city. Polish food is what our grandmothers used to make; one of the finest if not the finest cuisine in Central and Eastern Europe. This year pumpkin held center stage, with delicious dumplings and soups. Coincidentally, that other great culinary and cinema city, San Sebastian, also the inventor of the cinema "works-in-progress" industry model, has instituted a gastronomic exchange through the Polish-Basque Cultural Association Arrano Zuria. The project is promoted by the Donostia San Sebastian 2016 Foundation in charge of the European Capital of Culture 2016 in which chefs from both countries exchange and share recipes of both countries for public feasts.
But I digress...the 2014 U.S. in Progress, Wrocław participants:
Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian of "God Bless the Child" were articulate and full of anecdotes about how their book-ended story featured Robert's own five children in their own home. The first book-end shows the car being driven away by the mother early in the morning thus leaving the 13 year old daughter in charge of four brothers aged 18 months to seven or eight years. The closing book-end is for you, the viewer, to see as it caps off an almost perfect film. Between book-ends, this family, held together by the sweet and loving older sister, spends an almost real-life day together. Genre-defying, docu-like, so loving and so sad, this is not an easy-to-sell film for sales agents because it fits no preset marketing formula. However, I would venture to guess that If an audience were lucky enough to see it, word would spread about how lovingly effective and how unique it is. Rodrigo and Robert have more films in mind as well which are of the type that you want them to succeed in making. The jury unanimously awarded prizes for the completion to this worthy film. It is not "like" it, but still it put me in mind of Whit Stillman's "Boyhood" because the players are real people basically playing themselves.
"Take Me to the River" the debut feature of Matt Sobel was extraordinarily accomplished for a first-timer. A story about middle-America, a brother and sister find themselves at odds at their large family reunion at the family farm, when their two children are involved in an incident. The "big-city" (not) teenaged boy, the only child of the sister and her city-bred husband, finds his integrity tested in the events that follow. When the professional audience watching this film pointed out similarities to Thomas Vinterberg, Matt was aware and pointed out that his editor, Jacob Secher Schulsinger, was Danish and edited "Nymphomaniac" 1 and 2 as well as this year's Swedish Academy contender, "Force Majeure". On a personal note, we have known Matt for the six years it has taken to complete this film and have watched him as he attended Binger Institute as a post-grad whose college education did not include filmmaking, as he grew personally and professionally. We feel very proud of him and this film which we hope will make it to the top festivals and will be picked up by a top international sales agent to sell to top distributors. Its authenticity is a result of conscious decisions made in the creation of the drama by Matt. A strong and unique film.
"The Homefront" co-directed by Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy is another totally unique, stand-alone feature, though it might be put into a genre category of post-apocalyptic, family drama. Only the apocalypse has not yet happened. War is still at a distance while this self-survivalist family of parents and their son and daughter wait it out in their large family house somewhere in Texas. The team of Tyler and Fidel started this when they were 19 years old. Today they are 23 and have more stories in them. It could actually be remade on a grander scale and would attract an audience, given some marketing dollars to get it into play. This is an unexpected story, acclaimed by the jury and awarded post-production prizes including sound and soundtrack composition. Additional links: https://vimeo.com/ruizhealy, http://www.theamericanstandardfilmco.com/
"Nakom" co-directed by Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris is another of the several co-directed films here attesting to a new generation of filmmakers who work in teams. This team-building is not just in U.S.; I have also seen it in Latin America and the Caribbean that young filmmakers meet in film school or at festivals and go on to create working teams which I think will continue to make films together. In this case Travis and Kelly met in film school and this is their second film together. The first, "Ombras de Azul" is just beginning to make the rounds. They shot it in Cuba. This one they shot in Ghana, in a village in the African plains where Travis spent two years in Peace Corps. It is enacted in the native language with a professionalism that belies the filmmakers' youth. It put me in mind of Tommy Oliver's "Kinyarwanda" which played in Sundance 2011 and whose second film "1982" was also in U.S. in Progress a year or two ago. Tommy has since made three more films.
"Flycatcher" changed its name to "Pangea" as a result of "Foxcatcher". Director Malcolm Murray wrote this with his wife, Liz Tran. HIs previous film, "Bad Posture", completed in 2011, has been written about in New York Times, Village Voice, Filmmaker Magazine, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine, Local Iq, Hammer To Nail: Top Ten Films of 2011. It showed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and he was named in Ten To Watch: Best of Iffr.
"Stinking Heaven", directed by Nathan Silver, reminded me to Lars von Trier's "The Idiots". It stars up-and-coming Keith Poulson who just played in "Listen Up Philip" and is to be seen in several other pictures.
The 2013 U.S. in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S. and screened this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 U.S. in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
Earnest, attentive and professionally engaged, seeking answers about the best ways to complete the films in order to appeal strategically to festivals and international sales agents, the filmmakers discussed how best to further the success of their present and future films as well as their careers as international filmmakers. These six teams of filmmakers undoubtedly benefited enormously from the Polish and European film professionals who shared their knowledge as everyone watched the six chosen films, networking, sharing meals and drinking and who knows what till all hours in three fully packed days and nights.
Debuting filmmakers from the United States. in the only event of its kind in Europe (except for its sister event held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris) were invited (all expenses paid) to this great European city where the only multiplex for arthouse cinema of its kind is flourishing.
Roman Gutek, founder of this festival and the larger summertime Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, owner of Gutek Distribution, an entrepreneur who loves creating new events and projects, took over the giant theater in the middle of this middle-European, formerly Prussian city a few years ago and has introduced more than cinema to a well-educated (top univerisity here is one of the oldest in Europe) young populace. Other successful events include opera, ballet and monthly film events for 35,000 school children. He is now preparing the cinema component for the upcoming celebration of Wroclaw as the European Capital of Culture 2016.
One of his sons is working with the American Film Festival with its artistic director Ula Śniegowska. The other son is a chef and quite active in the gastronomic success of the city. Polish food is what our grandmothers used to make; one of the finest if not the finest cuisine in Central and Eastern Europe. This year pumpkin held center stage, with delicious dumplings and soups. Coincidentally, that other great culinary and cinema city, San Sebastian, also the inventor of the cinema "works-in-progress" industry model, has instituted a gastronomic exchange through the Polish-Basque Cultural Association Arrano Zuria. The project is promoted by the Donostia San Sebastian 2016 Foundation in charge of the European Capital of Culture 2016 in which chefs from both countries exchange and share recipes of both countries for public feasts.
But I digress...the 2014 U.S. in Progress, Wrocław participants:
Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian of "God Bless the Child" were articulate and full of anecdotes about how their book-ended story featured Robert's own five children in their own home. The first book-end shows the car being driven away by the mother early in the morning thus leaving the 13 year old daughter in charge of four brothers aged 18 months to seven or eight years. The closing book-end is for you, the viewer, to see as it caps off an almost perfect film. Between book-ends, this family, held together by the sweet and loving older sister, spends an almost real-life day together. Genre-defying, docu-like, so loving and so sad, this is not an easy-to-sell film for sales agents because it fits no preset marketing formula. However, I would venture to guess that If an audience were lucky enough to see it, word would spread about how lovingly effective and how unique it is. Rodrigo and Robert have more films in mind as well which are of the type that you want them to succeed in making. The jury unanimously awarded prizes for the completion to this worthy film. It is not "like" it, but still it put me in mind of Whit Stillman's "Boyhood" because the players are real people basically playing themselves.
"Take Me to the River" the debut feature of Matt Sobel was extraordinarily accomplished for a first-timer. A story about middle-America, a brother and sister find themselves at odds at their large family reunion at the family farm, when their two children are involved in an incident. The "big-city" (not) teenaged boy, the only child of the sister and her city-bred husband, finds his integrity tested in the events that follow. When the professional audience watching this film pointed out similarities to Thomas Vinterberg, Matt was aware and pointed out that his editor, Jacob Secher Schulsinger, was Danish and edited "Nymphomaniac" 1 and 2 as well as this year's Swedish Academy contender, "Force Majeure". On a personal note, we have known Matt for the six years it has taken to complete this film and have watched him as he attended Binger Institute as a post-grad whose college education did not include filmmaking, as he grew personally and professionally. We feel very proud of him and this film which we hope will make it to the top festivals and will be picked up by a top international sales agent to sell to top distributors. Its authenticity is a result of conscious decisions made in the creation of the drama by Matt. A strong and unique film.
"The Homefront" co-directed by Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy is another totally unique, stand-alone feature, though it might be put into a genre category of post-apocalyptic, family drama. Only the apocalypse has not yet happened. War is still at a distance while this self-survivalist family of parents and their son and daughter wait it out in their large family house somewhere in Texas. The team of Tyler and Fidel started this when they were 19 years old. Today they are 23 and have more stories in them. It could actually be remade on a grander scale and would attract an audience, given some marketing dollars to get it into play. This is an unexpected story, acclaimed by the jury and awarded post-production prizes including sound and soundtrack composition. Additional links: https://vimeo.com/ruizhealy, http://www.theamericanstandardfilmco.com/
"Nakom" co-directed by Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris is another of the several co-directed films here attesting to a new generation of filmmakers who work in teams. This team-building is not just in U.S.; I have also seen it in Latin America and the Caribbean that young filmmakers meet in film school or at festivals and go on to create working teams which I think will continue to make films together. In this case Travis and Kelly met in film school and this is their second film together. The first, "Ombras de Azul" is just beginning to make the rounds. They shot it in Cuba. This one they shot in Ghana, in a village in the African plains where Travis spent two years in Peace Corps. It is enacted in the native language with a professionalism that belies the filmmakers' youth. It put me in mind of Tommy Oliver's "Kinyarwanda" which played in Sundance 2011 and whose second film "1982" was also in U.S. in Progress a year or two ago. Tommy has since made three more films.
"Flycatcher" changed its name to "Pangea" as a result of "Foxcatcher". Director Malcolm Murray wrote this with his wife, Liz Tran. HIs previous film, "Bad Posture", completed in 2011, has been written about in New York Times, Village Voice, Filmmaker Magazine, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine, Local Iq, Hammer To Nail: Top Ten Films of 2011. It showed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and he was named in Ten To Watch: Best of Iffr.
"Stinking Heaven", directed by Nathan Silver, reminded me to Lars von Trier's "The Idiots". It stars up-and-coming Keith Poulson who just played in "Listen Up Philip" and is to be seen in several other pictures.
The 2013 U.S. in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S. and screened this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 U.S. in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
- 11/5/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Us in Progress 4th annual Coproduction Forum (October 22-25, 2014) held during the 5th American Film Festival in Wrocław (October 21-26) targets Polish and European film professionals to facilitate professional networking with young, independent filmmakers from the United States. It is the only event of its kind in Europe (except for its sister event held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris. Invitation-only screenings are screening six independent American feature-length films in the final editing stages, selected out of 40 submissions.
The 2014 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Flycatcher," dir. Malcolm Murray
"God Bless the Child," dir. Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck & Robert Machoian
"The Homefront," dir. Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy
"Nakom," dir. Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris
"Stinking Heaven," dir. Nathan Silver
"Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel
All will attend the 3-day event in Wrocław.
The 2013 Us in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
Polish post-production studios are welcomed to take part in the program, offer their services or expand their network of potential international clients.In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S.A and will screen this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 Us in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
The 2014 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Flycatcher," dir. Malcolm Murray
"God Bless the Child," dir. Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck & Robert Machoian
"The Homefront," dir. Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy
"Nakom," dir. Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris
"Stinking Heaven," dir. Nathan Silver
"Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel
All will attend the 3-day event in Wrocław.
The 2013 Us in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
Polish post-production studios are welcomed to take part in the program, offer their services or expand their network of potential international clients.In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S.A and will screen this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 Us in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
- 9/15/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
A long-form poem set to film and interspersed with dialogue, Sombras de Azul from Kelly Daniela Norris takes the viewer on a scenic trip to Cuba. Maribel, played by the director's cousin Seedne Bujaidar, arrives in the country after the sudden death of her older brother Carlos. In the touristy areas, silent museums and colorful back streets of Havana, she looks for hints of her brother at the same time she pays a sort of tribute to him.
During her short time in the country, Maribel meets friendly cafe owners, a Swedish tourist (Charlotta Mohlin, True Blood), and carpenter/failed thief Eusebio (Cuban actor Yasmani Guerrero). Each in their different way aid in her healing process.
Sombras de Azul moves in quiet meditation, with Maribel's reflections about her brother spoken over scenes of landscape, cityscape or beach. People in white congregate on the streets for an unnamed sacred event. Maribel...
During her short time in the country, Maribel meets friendly cafe owners, a Swedish tourist (Charlotta Mohlin, True Blood), and carpenter/failed thief Eusebio (Cuban actor Yasmani Guerrero). Each in their different way aid in her healing process.
Sombras de Azul moves in quiet meditation, with Maribel's reflections about her brother spoken over scenes of landscape, cityscape or beach. People in white congregate on the streets for an unnamed sacred event. Maribel...
- 11/5/2013
- by Elizabeth Stoddard
- Slackerwood
Austin Film Festival ended last week, but the news flashes aren't over yet. The 2013 Audience Award winners were announced Monday and include a few with Austin/Texas connections -- most notably All of Me, an Austin-based documentary, and Sombras de Azul, which was written and directed by Austin filmmaker Kelly Daniela Norris.
The Marquee Feature Award went to Tommy Oliver's family drama 1982, and the Narrative Feature pick Beside Still Waters was also a Jury Award winner. Directed and co-written by Chris Lowell, this ensemble piece explores heavy themes using humor and heart. Many Audience Award winners from past years have gone on to more widespread attention and acclaim, including Silver Linings Playbook, Spinning Plates and 2011's The Artist.
Take a look at the full list of 2013 awardees:
1982 -- Marquee Feature Audience Award, written and directed by Tommy Oliver.Beside Still Waters -- Narrative Feature Audience Award, written by Chris Lowell...
The Marquee Feature Award went to Tommy Oliver's family drama 1982, and the Narrative Feature pick Beside Still Waters was also a Jury Award winner. Directed and co-written by Chris Lowell, this ensemble piece explores heavy themes using humor and heart. Many Audience Award winners from past years have gone on to more widespread attention and acclaim, including Silver Linings Playbook, Spinning Plates and 2011's The Artist.
Take a look at the full list of 2013 awardees:
1982 -- Marquee Feature Audience Award, written and directed by Tommy Oliver.Beside Still Waters -- Narrative Feature Audience Award, written by Chris Lowell...
- 11/5/2013
- by Caitlin Moore
- Slackerwood
In addition to the short films already leaked via Twitter, the Austin Film Festival has now announced the first ten films of the 2013 lineup (including one from an Austin-based director) as well as a special retrospective series featuring an array of talented directors. Jonathan Demme will even screen scenes from a work in progress.
Standing out from the list are Alexander Payne's latest (Nebraska), a documentary about religious conflict within a family (Mom, Dad, I'm Muslim), and the world premiere of Sombras de Azul (production still above), based on the experiences of Austin director Kelly Daniela Norris, who traveled to Cuba in the hopes it would help her come to terms with her brother's suicide.
In an interview last year, Norris described the challenges of creating such a personal film and discussed how she was able to finish the project with the help of Kickstarter. Norris also drew from...
Standing out from the list are Alexander Payne's latest (Nebraska), a documentary about religious conflict within a family (Mom, Dad, I'm Muslim), and the world premiere of Sombras de Azul (production still above), based on the experiences of Austin director Kelly Daniela Norris, who traveled to Cuba in the hopes it would help her come to terms with her brother's suicide.
In an interview last year, Norris described the challenges of creating such a personal film and discussed how she was able to finish the project with the help of Kickstarter. Norris also drew from...
- 8/20/2013
- by Caitlin Moore
- Slackerwood
There are many film projects seeking funds via crowdfunding platforms these days, which offers the unique opportunity for an audience to interact and connect with a film, sometimes before the first shot is captured. This bi-weekly column will highlight projects that demonstrate potential, and deserve a closer look (and possibly a donation).
The Canyons
The Gist: A contemporary thriller, featuring five twenty-something’s in modern day Hollywood, in their quest for power, love, sex, and success.
Why it Should be Kickstarted: What is perhaps most exciting about this project, is the writer/director collaboration of Bret Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero, American Psycho) and Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Auto-Focus). What’s also intriguing is that the two are seeking funds to retain complete creative control, avoiding financing and institutional censorship. It allows for immense potential, and an undoubtedly interesting project.
Most Interesting Reward: The opportunity to help cast the film,...
The Canyons
The Gist: A contemporary thriller, featuring five twenty-something’s in modern day Hollywood, in their quest for power, love, sex, and success.
Why it Should be Kickstarted: What is perhaps most exciting about this project, is the writer/director collaboration of Bret Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero, American Psycho) and Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Auto-Focus). What’s also intriguing is that the two are seeking funds to retain complete creative control, avoiding financing and institutional censorship. It allows for immense potential, and an undoubtedly interesting project.
Most Interesting Reward: The opportunity to help cast the film,...
- 5/14/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.